Like Pacific: Like Pacific EP

For Toronto’s Like Pacific, the journey to where they are today has been an exciting one. Since their formation in 2010, the Canadian punk quintet has slowly found their way to the forefront of the underground punk scene. After two EPs, as well as a number of tours across Canada and the United States, Like Pacific signed to New Damage Records (in Canada) and Pure Noise Records (worldwide), two up-and-coming independent punk labels, the latter of which has brought the likes of Forever Came Calling and The Story So Far considerable success. With their debut EP, Like Pacific looks to bring in new fans in the lead up their first full-length album, and they manage to do so with relative success.

Rooted in melodic hardcore, Like Pacific is not unlike their colleagues at Pure Noise. Their intense punk percussion and yell-sing hybrid choruses will make fans of The Story So Far and Handguns pretty happy. While they are a little too intense to place a pop punk label on, they are melodic enough to appeal to fans of the genre. Also in the vein of pop punk, it is fair to say that this EP doesn’t push itself as hard as it could.

All five of these tracks are hard-hitting punk tracks that, when seen one-by-one, are strong punk songs, but when brought together, they tell us nothing more than that Like Pacific is a band ready to do great things. While this is acceptable on this EP, which may be nothing more than a sampler of sorts for potential new fans, if you brought this EP to a full-length record, we may get something that isn’t nearly as effective.

With a punchy effort like “Eviction”, it is clear that these guys have what it takes to write a compelling punk melody. At less than 15 minutes, the EP’s five songs hold our attention over, but on a full-length release, these songs may be nothing more than filler tracks. It’s reassuring that these songs are still pretty good on their own, but it may take a little bit of work for the band to see themselves at the height of the punk scene, as they aren’t memorable enough to draw punk fans interested or melodic enough to keep pop punk fans interested.

That being said, the closer “Suffering” gives us hope as to what we may see from these guys in the future. Its guitar intro kicks into a song that is filled with shifting dynamics that go from loud to louder, as the track swells to a high tempo catharsis of loss and disillusion. The yell of “what will I hold on to?” in the chorus feels raw and ripe, as the song travels from its loud percussion and guitars, to an instrumental coda that settles in with ease, and leaves us awaiting new material from this young band. After looking to put their name on the map, Like Pacific may be on their way to doing so in 2015. Like Pacific serves as a solid introduction to its namesake band, as they look to establish for themselves in the year to come.